A Past Intertwined
by otia-dant-vitia
Summary: He's the man she continues to love as the past torments her every waking hour. She's the girl he left behind when he joined the Confederate Army. She believes he died in the war and he believes she died in a robbery. Will fate intervene on their behalf and show them that perhaps love does conquer all, even death itself?
1. Chapter 1

AN. First of all I am not a history buff. As such I'm trying to be vague to a point when the setting takes place in a different time period. I will undoubtedly mess up in this endeavor more than a dozen times, but this idea struck me and I wanted to see how it would look. I'm a student so my writing isn't perfect so please be gentle with this attempt (aka no flames). I will gladly accept CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, but please don't be mean because you're bored or some such nonsense. I'm really not sure if I'll continue, but I will consider it if I get positive reviews or messages for it. Note: I'm not hounding for reviews I just want to know if I should continue writing this and if it's going in a good direction.

AN. This story had indentation when I wrote it, but I don't know how to fix that on here. If you know, please tell me. If not, please don't hate me for not having it.

Disclaimer: IF I owned Twilight Emmett would be mine and Rosalie would have had the life she wanted. So there.

1850s –AN. Jasper was born 1844 but this conversation takes place in 1861, so stick with me here.

"Jasper!" She yelled out in greeting, much to her mother's shame, smiling brightly at the young man walking towards her.

"Howdy Miss Lana, Mrs. Thomas." Jasper smiled kindly at them both and she felt her heart jolt in response. She felt her mother's elbow dig in to her side and she dropped in to a curtsy followed briefly by her mother. As the elbow dug in further, she knew her mother was warning her to keep her tongue. She was being raised as a lady, as her mother often said to discourage the 'wild nonsense' she frequently got up to, but sometimes (like when Jasper was around) propriety just didn't seem as important.

"Mr. Whitlock, I heard yesterday of your upcoming departure to participate in the war." Her mother spoke like she was talking about simply going to tea at anothers home, but Lana felt herself turn cold and looked up to see if the clouds had blocked the sun for surely the ground had just been cast with a shadow a mile long. Jaspers expression tightened, but he smiled good naturedly as he replied to her mothers careless remark.

"Yes mam, I intend to fight for Texas." He glanced at Lana then and she understood that he had been coming to tell her, but her mother had brought it up first. Lana had never truly spoken about her feelings about the war, but she thought that maybe Jasper knew anyway. Jasper and her had been friends ever since she fell out of his father's elm tree. She had been rather embarrassed at the age of seven to see a boy watching her, especially since she'd just fallen right on her butt, and had started to run away. However, Jasper had followed, and when finally she stopped and turned around he simply smiled, stuck out his hand for her to shake and said,

"I fall out of that tree every other day."

She nearly smiled as she thought of their first meeting, but she stopped when the topic of discussion floated back into her mind.

"As all young men should." Her mother spoke as if a great debate had just been settled and Lana wished more than anything that the war didn't exist. It was the topic of war that first made Lana hate the way things were, for if they were different the old folks in this town wouldn't be convincing the younger ones to lie about their age as it was 'their duty to fight in the war'. Now Lana didn't know much of anything about war, and she certainly didn't know much about duty since as far as her mother was concerned her duty was to get married and have children, so fighting in a war only meant two things to her. Those two things; dead and dying.

"Yes mam, I was wondering if I could speak with your daughter for a moment." Jasper, spoke somewhat formally as both he and Lana knew that the best way to get on her mothers good side was to be formal as all get out. Lana nearly felt it working as her mother stiffened her already perfect posture.

"You may, but see that she doesn't climb any trees, her dress is new." Mrs. Thomas replied, and already her attention was waning.

"Yes, mam." Jasper replied, before nodding to her mother and waiting for the curtsy before extending an arm towards Lana. Lana contained a smirk at the show but made sure to lay her hand on his arm as he led her away. They made sure not to look over their shoulders as they briskly walked away from the center of town. They were halfway back to the Whitlock's property line when they both started laughing, knowing they were free to do so. Lana looked up into Jaspers deep brown eyes as they walked and wished they were still much younger, as young adults the expectations were growing. For her it meant an unhappy marriage and kids and for him, it meant war.

Now

Lana shook herself from the past, the familiar pain aching within her chest and setting off a myriad of others. She could no longer sleep, but she often found herself lost in her memories, wishing for anything other than what she saw when she looked. It was insanity, but she could not stop, for that was the only way for her to be close to her Jasper. Her life had not been as easy or straightforward as her mother had seen it. She was nearly twenty-two by the time news had arrived of Jaspers death. Lana had begged the man for more information and he said there were so many casualties that they were having difficulty finding everyone and figuring out who they were, as they simply didn't have the manpower. Lana had been broken hearted and after a while feelings were hard to come by. It was in this time that her mother finally pushed her into agreeing to marry. He had been an older gentleman, but not elderly, as he was in his early thirties. He had been kind to Lana, and her mother had been thrilled with the match. They got married soon after and then the pressure was on for children. Lana was able to force, or fake the bare minimum of emotions, but it was the intimate moments that very nearly broke her entirely as she'd look up into the face of her husband, and would see Jaspers brown eyes, his wavy hair she'd often played with, and most of all, his gentle smile. She would hold out until her husband was through and then cry after he'd fallen asleep. Those were not the only tears she'd cry for the man who had been her best friend first and the only man she'd love second. Still life had gone on for Lana and before long she was heavy with child, women would gather to give her homemade gifts, and advice, but Lana was in torment. For she saw a child with Jaspers golden hair and hated that it was not to be. She had suffered through the pains of birth, held her aging mothers hand as she suffered like she never thought she would ever suffer, but it was for not. The child was never to make its first cry, and she cried in guilt for wanting another child with a different man for surely this was punishment for her ungratefulness. She had been recovering from the birthing when her mother slapped her as hard as she could across her cheek. Her mother left without a word and wouldn't speak to her again before death claimed her. Lana had attempted to continue as normal, but her husband refused to be saddled with a women who couldn't even do her duty by him.

Lana, glanced out the window of her apartment as more and more memories flashed by. The same old trees stared back at her and impulsively she opened the window and jumped down from the second floor to the ground. She could have just jumped to the tree, but she wanted to actually climb. So she pushed herself to go slowly, lift an arm, grab a branch, and take a step. She forced out thoughts until she reached as high as she could go without bending the tree. Her confusing and painful memories flashed in as she star-gazed from her higher vantage point. She remembered the first time she'd spoken to her father after her mothers death.

"Men want children, it's how it is, and can you really blame the man for wanting to take another wife?" Her father asked none too gently, but he didn't seem to understand that Lana could care less what her husband did, but she didn't know what she would do. Her father had stood by her mother after the birthing and her mother's actions following. As such this was the first time they'd spoken and it was only because her mother had died months previously. Despite her husband's words after the incident, they'd continued on for four more months before he took action. It was that action that brought her to her father, seeking advice.

"Father, he could take ten wives and I wouldn't even blink, but he wants me gone. What am I to do?" Her father shook his head at the ten wives comment, but stopped to consider her question.

It was only a few minutes later that he spoke.

"Your mother, she had a sister who lived in Trinity, she's most likely still there. I could write her a letter to see if she would be willing to take you in. You could stay here in the meantime, but if she says no, you're on your own." Lana found this slightly confusing as she'd never known of any aunts, but the deal was reasonable so she decided not to question it.

It was perhaps a month and a half later that her father's name was called in front of the courthouse with a letter. She ignored the stories of the boy on the pony as she carefully watched her father. He walked towards her as he opened and she saw his eyes skim down the page. She waited to see a sign of what it said, but he gave none. Finally he lowered the paper to look down at her.

"She's agreed to take you in, but you'll have to help her out on the farm, she lost her eldest in the war and her youngins aren't quite up to the task. She doesn't expect you to be either, but she's willing to give you a chance." Lana felt herself smile and it struck her as somewhat funny that she couldn't remember the last time she had done so.

Lana was distracted by her thoughts by a plane flying overhead, and she shook her head at the marvels of this new age. Her thoughts returned to their previous fixation and she smiled in remembrance of her eccentric aunt. Lana wasn't quite happy, but she was as close to content as possibly given the circumstances. Truth be told, Lana had expected someone like her mother. Someone who had to do the thing proper and was always worried about what ran the gossip mill. What she found was a woman who couldn't give a toot about being proper and her neighbors were far enough away that it was like they didn't even exist most of the time.

Seeing a slight lightening of the sky, Lana focused on her surroundings. No matter where she went, the sunrises were always her favorite view, despite how many beaches or mountains she saw.

It was Jasper who showed her the beauty in the rising sun. They had been just ten and he had woken her up an hour before dawn. She had admittedly, been quite cross with him, not only for waking her up, but for seeing her in her night clothes. He had finally persuaded her to get up and changed (while she blushed and he turned around) and she followed him half blind with sleep. It had taken her a while to realize he was taking her towards the edge of town towards the Dawson's place and he'd made her climb an old tree that looked half dead. She huffed all the way to the top before finally settling on a branch next to him as he held a hand out to steady her. Blushing scarlet, she turned to look around them before facing him again.

"You woke me up to sit in a tree?" She didn't sound angry, surprisingly, just curious.

"Course not, I woke you up to see the sun." He grinned at her like it was obvious.

"Come on! We see the sun all the time, as in all day." She had been annoyed then, but he just laughed.

"Yeah, but you don't see the sun rise now do you?" He spoke in his arrogant voice, the one he adopted when making fun of her mother. Though he never admitted that that was what he was doing. She had shaken her head at him, but didn't comment and instead just looked at the sky and embraced the calm that seemed to surround them. When his hand slipped in to take hers she only blushed lightly and smiled at him before looking back up at the stars in the lightening sky. Lana had watched in the corner of her eye as Jasper had stared at her for another minute before looking up as well. They had stayed an hour after the sun had risen, neither feeling the urge to break the peaceful atmosphere.

Lana slipped out of her thoughts to look down at her hand. It was curled upwards as if, it too, was remembering his hand in hers. She sighed before deciding to stop torturing herself for the day. Jumping out of the tree, she decided she might as well go hunting. She had been in Montana for a few months and was quickly growing tired of it. She missed Texas, but she knew it would be much too painful to be there as she hadn't been there since a few years after she was turned. As she ran she heard the wildlife all around her, normally she was quite fond of the bobcats or bears, but today she wanted to run a bit further and find something different. She ran northwest from her home until she was well in to Washington. This was her first time in Washington as for the most part she'd stayed in the north in the far east, even occasionally swimming across the ocean to explore the countries she knew nothing about as a human. As she was running she caught a sign proclaiming the territory as Goat Rocks and hoped that wasn't the only wildlife she found. For some reason goat seemed oddly repulsive to her. Catching a new scent she focused until she could pinpoint its location, she recognized it as a fairly big predator, but not much else. Taking off towards the creature she felt the burning in her throat increase, she stopped at the edge of the clearing she knew it resided in and saw a mountain lion. Yum. She jumped out from her place just in time to get slammed into from the side. Her mind registered the word vampire even as her body snapped into a defensive position to take in the person before her. She vaguely noticed the mountain lion disappearing into the woods, but she had bigger concerns than her unquenched thirst.

AN. Only slight cliffhanger, since who do we know that favors the mountain lions? Like I said in the first AN if you happened to read it, I'll be considering whether to continue based on the response or responses I get. I know the interactions in the past are incorrect since I've definitely read too many Austen books, but I'm trying so please be nice. If you do happen to be a history buff, don't kill me.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

AN. If you're reading this, I got enough positive feedback to encourage me to continue (which I can assure you has left me tingling with pleasant surprise). Just to clarify, I did completely say whatever to matching the language to that of the 1860s from now on, but can you blame me? I can't believe how long it took me to finish the second chapter, but writing the scenes with the Cullens is such a struggle in comparison to the Lana and Jasper moments. I promise I wasn't holding the chapter hostage and I honestly feel bad for taking so long. Additionally, this no indentation thing is annoying, but I'll get over it, eventually (as soon as I figure out how to fix it).

As always, I do not own Twilight or anything you recognize, I am simply dabbling in this unique world to entertain myself and possibly others. I hope you enjoy.

As she spun around her mind quickly recognized a few things about this unknown vampire. First of all, he was turned young, younger than she was. Additionally, he was dressed nice (really nice), which said that he either lived a posh sort of lifestyle or he'd just stolen his new clothes. Considering his eyes were similar to hers she was willing to bet that it was the former. She tilted her head as she looked at him curiously, as all he was doing was standing there observing her. As they stood there she heard more vampires running towards them and her fight or flight instinct started to kick in. She may have been able to handle the young one, but outnumbered and potentially outclassed weren't odds she wanted to take on. The sounds were getting closer and her flight instinct had just won out. She hated to put her back to an enemy, but running was the safest option against multiple attackers. She had just spun around to run when the boy spoke.

"We weren't planning to hurt you. The others are my family, and are likely just curious. We don't see many others with a diet matching our own very often, you see." He spoke gently, like she was a wild animal, but it had the intended affect. She turned back around to look at him once more, but mostly so that she would see the others as they approached. As she waited she really observed the boy before her.

He had strange colored flyaway hair, even with their enhanced vision she found herself slightly puzzled by how he managed to get his hair that way. She had thought she'd seen the end of that hair style after the greasers' days were over, but then there wasn't any grease in his hair. He chuckled slightly and ran a hand through his hair as if slightly embarrassed. She wondered if he had possibly only realized what he looked like after having a stranger stare at him. He shifted again, but kept his hands firmly by his side.

A few seconds later and his family, as he called them, were walking into the small clearing. As they entered she began to feel slightly claustrophobic. Lana knew it was silly to feel that way in a forest, especially when she could see the sky overhead, but she felt trapped. They hadn't surrounded her of course, but the half circle they created did feel slightly predatory.

"Hello, my names Carlisle, and this is my mate Esme." Here he gestured to the woman next to him, who smiled back sweetly and Lana felt her lips twist up into a soft smile. Carlisle smiled before continuing the impromptu introductions.

"These are some of my children, Emmett and his mate Rosalie, and of course you've already met my son Edward. My other children are Jasper and Alice who are currently with Edwards mate Bella." She felt slightly winded when he said the name Jasper, but she forced her mind to stay in the present. She knew it would be someone else, but she felt my heart twisting once more as it wished for the impossible. The war had taken her Jasper, she knew that, but her heart would never accept that painful truth. She watched as the boy, Edward she reminded herself, stiffened slightly, but he said nothing.

"It's nice to meet you, my names Lana. I've never met others with the same diet. Edward said you hadn't met many, but does that mean that you have met any?" She asked curiously, as the wording of Edwards sentence ran through her mind and discerned possible meanings.

"Yes, in fact there is a coven in Denali that we consider a distant part of our family. Sadly, they are the only ones who follow our eating habits." The leader spoke remorsefully, she could see the sincerity of his words in his eyes and felt herself relax further.

"Perhaps you would like to come back to the house with us and continue this conversation? We would like a chance to perhaps get to know you further." Carlisle's voice was soothing so she hoped she wouldn't regret this. Edward, who had previously stiffened, relaxed and smiled at her.

"That sounds nice, lead the way." As they turned to run back the way they came she followed and went through what she had observed of the others. Emmett, the big one, had been quite shocking, but before she could properly be afraid he'd grinned and those dimples completely threw her for a loop. He was boyishly handsome and she had felt some sort of childish urge to climb trees like she had when she was young (and still did occasionally). His mate seemed quite solemn even with her obvious beauty, she neither glared nor smiled, but she had a distinct feeling about her that seemed to scream stay away. Lana managed to ignore that, though she did file it away for later as to whom she should maintain her guard around. Carlisle, the leader, seemed quite gorgeous even as far as vampire standards ran, and his mate, Esme, was quite lovely as well, though there was something extra kind in her eyes and smile. Edward himself was quite confusing, she wondered about his mental state as during the conversation he seemed to react to something, but it didn't line up with the conversation itself. He laughed as they ran and she, like the others, stared at him wondering what could possibly have amused him so.

Edward shook his head, and they continued to run. Emmett seemed to think this was a race as he pushed himself to run as fast as he could, but also destroy the occasional tree or boulder. She found herself smothering laughter just watching his face light up with childish glee. She saw the trees thinning and they entered a clearing, then she saw the house. She felt it inadequate to call the building a house as it was quite large.

"Your home is quite impressive." Lana had been raised in the south where above all, manners mattered, she idly wondered what the protocol would be for vampire parties or some such. Obviously, you wouldn't bring wine or a casserole dish to a vampire's home. Edward chuckled once more and she stared at him in confusion.

"Don't mind my son, he often seems to be in his own little world." Carlisle spoke indulgently and Edward rolled his eyes, but refrained from commenting.

"Of course, so have you lived here long?" After living for as long as she had Lana was quite used to moving around to avoid drawing to much unwanted attention or suspicion. With there being so many in this family surely it was worse.

"Around three years now, but I daresay we'll be moving within a year or so." Carlisle said casually as they entered the house and she took a moment to look around. The house itself was truly a masterpiece. She was more of a simple apartment type herself, but she could certainly respect a place like this. She thought that maybe they took playing human a little far as she noticed school books on the table by the couch and as they walked further inside she saw they had even gone so far as to buy human food. Before she could question this, however, two more vampires and a human were descending the stairs. Lana watched as Edward seemed to stiffen in response, she wondered if he was suffering from bloodlust for the human. He simply watched the human as she came closer and as Lana watched him she took in the loving look in his eyes as he gazed and the way the human seemed to be speeding up, as much as a human can, to get to him faster. Lana felt slightly sick, was he like the others, keeping a human as some sort of weird pet?

"It's not like that." Edward told her, and she was immediately on edge. She was wondering if it was her expression that gave her away or something more, after all, she knew vampires could have special gifts and though she had never heard of a mind reading vampire that didn't mean one didn't exist.

"I am a mind reader, but it usually isn't intentional, you just broadcast your thoughts so clearly I find it difficult to ignore." Lana felt suddenly embarrassed for apparently thinking too clearly, but she felt it an odd thing to be embarrassed over.

"You shouldn't be embarrassed. I won't share your thoughts unless you're a danger to my family." Wishing her thoughts were private, but understanding the situation at hand, she relaxed before realizing she had been completely distracted by this new detail from the newcomers of the room.

As she turned to observe them she noticed the human was now tucked into Edwards side gazing curiously back at her, she was very pretty for a human, but if she were turned Lana would bet that she'd be rather stunning. Looking to the side though were the vampires she had previously ignored. She first observed the girl and felt inexplicably amused by her perky disposition, as she was practically bouncing in place. Her face was rather angular, which gave her an almost elfin appearance. The girls cropped hair only exemplified those features. Lana assumed these two must be Alice and Jasper as Carlisle had said Bella was Edwards mate. She found herself quite reluctant to look at Jasper and see a strangers face, but after all this time, she shouldn't let it affect her so. Feeling slightly embarrassed she turned her head slightly, her eyes were first drawn to the many scars visible on his hands before disappearing in the long sleeves of his shirt and then went upward towards his neck where even more scars were embossed in a terrifying and saddening way before she looked up at the face. At first she believed herself to have finally gone mad, as although he bore the changes from being made vampire he was a slightly older carbon copy of the boy who had left her behind to fight in the war. In that moment she felt if she had a heart it would have been expanding and breaking all at once, her very body was tingling as if in recognition, but as she realized all this she took in how close he was standing to Alice and even worse, his puzzled expression as he gazed back at her. To be replaced was one thing, she could love him enough to withstand that, no matter how much it hurt. To be forgotten, that was not a pain she could survive, and her own instincts held true, before he or anyone else could speak, she ran.

Lana wished desperately that she could simply shut off her mind and run, but thoughts continued to torment her as she pushed herself to go as fast as possible. She ran straight for the most part, but adjust slightly to avoid a rather revolting smelling piece of land that puzzled her before she decided to ignore it. As Lana ran she tried to catch up with her emotions but they seemed beyond her. On one hand, she felt she should be crippled with gratefulness that Jasper was alive and seemed to be happy with his new vampire coven, but on the other, she was terribly hurt that he didn't seem to remember her. Lana knew that memories of the human life could be terribly vague at times and you wouldn't remember everything without extreme dedication, but she was still disappointed that he didn't hold one memory of her. To know that someone she had felt so much pain for and struggled to keep with her even as she was attacked that day and in a way killed and abandoned he hadn't so much as known her name, that was heart break on a level previously unknown. Her pain magnified when she realized just how long he'd been vampire and what might have caused him to be so. Had luck been in her favor she could have been with him, she could have known him. At the very least, she would have been given solace with knowledge of his survival. Now she couldn't help but feel cheated, not by Jasper, but by fate. Why had fate been so cruel as to reveal him, yet do so in such a way? Was she being punished for the lives she had taken? She had switched to animal blood eventually, but it had taken her nearly a century to do so. She had only thought it might be possible after coming across a rather intriguing work of fiction in 1976 in which the vampires could survive on animal blood if necessary. While she was hesitant to try something just because book vampires could do so, she was happy now that she had, as Jaspers own gold eyes had only reaffirmed that she was doing the right thing despite what various nomads had said both to her and about her. As Jasper came back to the forefront of her mind she felt that stabbing pain once again and became aware of noises behind her. Whoever they were, they were still a good distance, but she didn't want them any closer. Focusing on the path in front of her she put on an extra burst of speed and prayed to whatever deity existed that it not be Jasper. She didn't stand a chance of handling that conversation, at least not in her current mental state.

AN. Lana will not be some super powered Mary sue, I assure you. Like you can see, Edward can read her thoughts, and she isn't a telepathic, shape shifting, power stealing, goddess of war (lol). If you're into that, I'm sorry, but that's not where I'm going with this. I wanted to give everyone an idea of where I had placed Lana in terms of the Twilight books timeline, but it isn't quite clear yet so this takes place in Eclipse towards the beginning. If anyone has any questions, concerns, or comments feel free to review or send a pm and I'll do my best to respond adequately. Thank you for those who read, review, favorite, follow, and give their time to my story as I do appreciate it. I do intend to continue writing this story, but know that I start school in January and that always takes precedence over fanfiction. I really do appreciate people giving my story a chance and I hope you guys continue to enjoy.

By the way, if anyone can guess what book Lana mentions without searching the internet for it they get a virtual cookie.


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